Home / National Park Service Exhibits / Grand Canyon National Park (GRCA) / Archaeology / Contents of a House 21
- Impression, Close View
Detail of the maize cob impression. The fragment was likely part of a clay jar stopper. - Hearth
This is the excavated hearth (fire pit) within the pit house. The builders of the pit house dug the hearth deeply into decaying limestone bedrock, and within this hearth archaeologists found a stone bead, a bone awl, and a charred juniper seed. The hearth was intentionally filled prior to the destruction of the house, with charcoal, ash, and rock packed in around a large piece of wood placed nearly vertically within it. Additional ash and charcoal was mounded over the filled hearth, with several large limestone rocks then placed over the mound, and over this lay a layer of yellowish, clayey fill and small limestone rocks that had apparently been used to cover the floor. Scientific study of the hearth fill indicates sagebrush and a woody member of the rose family (perhaps cliffrose)were burned in the hearth, as were juniper and pine. A few fragments of bone were also present, likely representing food remains tossed into the fire after a meal, one of which was a mammal—perhaps bison or sheep—roasted over the fire. Prickly pear and yucca may also have been cooked here, as was corn (Zea mays) and perhaps juniper, goosefoot, purslane, ricegrass, and wild licorice, as well as walnuts, acorn, and hazelnut. - Animal Bone
This is a burned piece of animal bone found at the site. The size and condition of the bone suggests it came from a medium to large mammal that was consumed as food. Other bones were made into tools, including the awl found within the hearth. - Corn Impression
Excavations just outside the pit house produced a piece of fired clay with corn (maize) cob impressions. Just a fragment, this piece is thought to have been part of a clay stopper used to seal a jar in which corn was stored; it is likely it was unfired until the burning of the pit house. - Mammal Bone
This is an ulnar carpal from a medium to large mammal, one of the few identifiable bones found on the site. Like the other faunal remains recovered during excavation, this bone was burned. - Burned Daub
Two pieces of burned daub were recovered from the site. These are remnant pieces a secondary structure with a large shallow hearth, possibly used for cooking. The presence of the daub, as well as the configuration of the structure remains, indicate it was built of small poles and brush perhaps covered with a thin layer of mud or clay.